Travis C Salzillo, Ph.D.
Department of Radiation Physics, Division of Radiation Oncology
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Physics - Pt Care, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2020 | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center/UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas, US, Biomedical Sciences, Medical Physics, Ph.D |
| 2014 | Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas, US, Physics and Mathematics, Bachelor of Science |
Postgraduate Training
| 2020-2024 | Advanced Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellowship + Radiation Physics Residency, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2014-2014 | Postbaccalaureate Fellow, Med to Grad Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2024 | Texas Medical Board, Therapeutic Radiological Physics |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Chief Resident, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2023 - 2024
Chair of Postdoctoral Affairs & Advocacy Team, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2021 - 2022
Intramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Annual Postdoctoral Career Symposium committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - 2021
Honors & Awards
| 2022 | NIH TL1 Postdoctoral Fellowship (5TL1TR003169), UT Health Center for Clinical & Translational Sciences (CCTS) |
| 2022 | Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research Award, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2021 | NIH TL1 Postdoctoral Fellowship (5TL1TR003169), UT Health Center for Clinical & Translational Sciences |
| 2021 | Aaron Blanchard Research Award for Best Dissertation in Medical Physics, The University of Texas Health Graduate School |
| 2020 | Experimental NMR Conference Student Travel Stipend, The University of Texas Health Graduate School |
| 2019 | Caroline Ross Endowed Fellowship in Brain Cancer Research, The University of Texas Health Graduate School |
| 2019 | Top Abstract to give Highlight Talk at World Molecular Imaging Congress in Montreal, Canada, MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2018 | Trainee Stipend Award, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine |
| 2018 | Scholar-In-Training Award, AACR-Aflac, Inc |
| 2018 | 1st Place in Oral Presentation Competition at Annual MD Anderson Division of Diagnostic Imaging Trainee Day, The University of Texas Health Graduate School |
| 2017 - 2020 | CPRIT Graduate Scholar Fellowship (RP170067), Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| 2016 | Investing in Student Futures Scholar, The MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School |
| 2014 | Department of Mathematics Excellence in Student Research Award, Tarleton State University |
| 2013 | Research Experience for Undergraduates (1559866) Michigan State University, National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| 2013 | 1st place in Oral Presentation Competition at Texas A&M University System 11th Annual Pathways Student Research Symposium, Tarleton State University |
| 2013 | 1st place in Oral Presentation Competition at Texas Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Tarleton State University |
| 2012 | Research Experience for Undergraduates (1659847) Texas A&M University, National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| 2010 - 2013 | Dick Smith Premiere Scholar, Tarleton State University |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
International Presentations
- 2025. MR-Guided Radiation Therapy. Invited. RAD-AID International Global Medical Physics Education Lecture Series. virtual, US.
- 2025. Characterizing Radiation Resistance and Response with Metabolic and Molecular Imaging. Invited. Joint NRG Imaging and Medical Physics Symposium. virtual, US.
- 2024. Updates of Relaxometry Task Group. Invited. MR-Linac Consortium 19th Annual Meeting. Singapore, SG.
- 2024. Prospective Clinical Pilot study: Simulation of Spine SBRT treatments on the MR-Linac with Comprehensive Motion Management. Poster. MR-Linac Consortium Meeting Singapore. Singapore, SG.
- 2024. Development and in-vivo testing of an MR-compatible biofeedback device for MR-guided radiotherapy simulation and treatment. Poster. MR-Linac Consortium 19th Annual Meeting. Singapore, SG.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Mackin D, Cifter G, Zlateva Y, Wang J, Ding Y, Shafiq M, Wang Z, Diagaradjane P, Guan F, Salzillo T, Krafft S, Li J, Ghia AJ, Tom MC, Briere T. Spine Stereotactic Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery: A Single Institution Physics Experience. J Appl Clin Med Phys. e-Pub 2025.
- Salzillo TC, Ding Y, Yeboa DN, Tom MC, Wang Z, Diagaradjane P, Subashi E, Yang J, Swanson T, Beckham T, Wang C, Ghia AJ, Briere T, Wang J, Lathuilière F, Cloake S, Han EY. Optimizing Motion Management and Baseline Shifts in Magnetic Resonance-Guided Spine Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy. Cancers 17(16):2697, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40867326.
- Munkhtuvshin, T, Shagdarsuren, B, Bold, B, Khurelsukh, K, Myagmarsuren, D, Bryant, JM, Salzillo, TC, Mohammed, S, Einstein, SA, Musall, BC, Mollura, DJ, Weygand, J. Cultivating expertise in MRI physics in Mongolia through international collaboration. J Med Imaging Radiat Sci 56(4), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40245825.
- McCullum, L, Mulder, SL, West, NA, Aghoghovbia, R, Ali, AS, Scott, H, Salzillo, TC, Ding, Y, Dresner, A, Subashi, ED, Ma, D, Stafford, RJ, Hwang, KP, Fuller, C. Technical development and In Silico implementation of SyntheticMR in head and neck adaptive radiation therapy. J Appl Clin Med Phys 26(7), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40645191.
- Brunnquell CL, Andrews TJ, Fielden SW, Huff K, Jordan DW, O’Shea MT, Ragan DK, Tressler MA, Salzillo TC, Och J. AAPM Task Group Report 325: MRI static magnetic field homogeneity measurement and evaluation procedures - Guidance and resources. Med Phys 51(10):7038-7046, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39167028.
- Hsieh KL, Chen Q, Salzillo TC, Zhang J, Jiang X, Bhattacharya PK, Shams S. Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomics, and Artificial Intelligence to Interrogate the Metabolic Evolution of Glioblastoma. Metabolites 14(8):448, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39195544.
- Seyedmohammadhossein H, Hemmati M, Dede C, Salzillo TC, van Dijk LV, Mohamed ASR, Lai SY, Schaefer AJ, Fuller CD. Cluster-Based Toxicity Estimation of Osteoradionecrosis Via Unsupervised Machine Learning: Moving Beyond Single Dose-Parameter Normal Tissue Complication Probability by Using Whole Dose-Volume Histograms for Cohort Risk Stratification. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 119(5):1569-1578, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38462018.
- El-Habashy DM, Wahid KA, He R, McDonald B, Mulder SJ, Ding Y, Salzillo TC, Lai SY, Christodouleas JC, Dresner A, Wang J, Naser MA, Fuller CD, Mohamed ASR. Dataset of weekly intra-treatment diffusion weighted imaging in head and neck cancer patients treated with MR-Linac. Sci Data 11(1):487, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38734679.
- Wang H, Yang J, Lee A, Phan J, Lim TY, Fuller CD, Han EY, Rhee DJ, Salzillo T, Zhao Y, Chopra N, Pham M, Castillo P, Sobremonte A, Moreno AC, Reddy JP, Rosenthal D, Garden AS, Wang X. MR-guided stereotactic radiation therapy for head and neck cancers. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 7(46):100760, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38510980.
- Hughes N, Salzillo TC, Vedam S, Lim TY, Wang X, Wang H, Mohammedsaid M, Fuller CD, Wang J, Yang J. A look-up-table development to facilitate CT simulation of MR-Linac treatment. Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol 29:100524, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38192414.
- Salzillo TC, Dresner MA, Way A, Wahid KA, McDonald BA, Mulder S, Naser MA, He R, Ding Y, Yoder A, Ahmed S, Corrigan KL, Manzar GS, Andring L, Pinnix C, Stafford RJ, Mohamed ASR, Christodouleas J, Wang J, Fuller CD. Development and implementation of optimized endogenous contrast sequences for delineation in adaptive radiotherapy on a 1.5T MR-linear-accelerator: a prospective R-IDEAL stage 0-2a quantitative/qualitative evaluation of in vivo site-specific quality-assurance using a 3D T2 fat-suppressed platform for head and neck cancer. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 10(6):065501, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37937259.
- McDonald BA, Salzillo TC, Mulder S, Ahmed S, Dresner A, Preston K, He R, Christodouleas J, Mohamed ASR, Philippens M, van Houdt P, Thorwarth D, Wang J, Shukla DA, Boss M, Fuller CD. Prospective evaluation of in vivo and phantom repeatability and reproducibility of diffusion-weighted MRI sequences on 1.5 T MRI-linear accelerator (MR-Linac) and MR simulator devices for head and neck cancers. Radiother Oncol 185:109717, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37211282.
- Mohamed ASR, Abusaif A, He R, Wahid KA, Salama V, Youssef S, McDonald BA, Naser M, Ding Y, Salzillo TC, AboBakr MA, Wang J, Lai SY, Fuller CD. Prospective validation of diffusion-weighted MRI as a biomarker of tumor response and oncologic outcomes in head and neck cancer: Results from an observational biomarker pre-qualification study. Radiother Oncol 183:109641, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36990394.
- El-Habashy DM, Wahid KA, He R, McDonald B, Rigert J, Mulder SJ, Lim TY, Wang X, Yang J, Ding Y, Naser MA, Ng SP, Bahig H, Salzillo TC, Preston KE, Abobakr M, Shehata MA, Elkhouly EA, Alagizy HA, Hegazy AH, Mohammadseid M, Terhaard C, Philippens M, Rosenthal DI, Wang J, Lai SY, Dresner A, Christodouleas JC, Mohamed ASR, Fuller CD. Longitudinal diffusion and volumetric kinetics of head and neck cancer magnetic resonance on a 1.5T MR-Linear accelerator hybrid system: A prospective R-IDEAL Stage 2a imaging biomarker characterization/ pre-qualification study. medRxiv, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37205359.
- Naser MA, Wahid KA, Ahmed S, Salama V, Dede C, Edwards BW, Lin R, McDonald B, Salzillo TC, He R, Ding Y, Abdelaal MA, Thill D, O'Connell N, Willcut V, Christodouleas JP, Lai SY, Fuller CD, Mohamed ASR. Quality assurance assessment of intra-acquisition diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging registration and contour propagation for head and neck cancer radiotherapy. Med Phys 50(4):2089-2099, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36519973.
- Hosseinian S, Hemmati M, Dede C, Salzillo TC, van Dijk LV, Mohamed ASR, Lai SY, Schaefer AJ, Fuller CD. Cluster-Based Toxicity Estimation of Osteoradionecrosis via Unsupervised Machine Learning: Moving Beyond Single Dose-Parameter Normal Tissue Complication Probability by Using Whole Dose-Volume Histograms for Cohort Risk Stratification. medRxiv, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37034700.
- Sanders KL, Mulder S, Wahid KA, McDonald BA, Ahmed S, Salzillo TC, He R, Naser MA, Dede C, Salama V, Way A, Sharafi CS, Mohamed ASR, Rigert J, Chambers M, Moreno AC, Hutcheson KA, Lai Sy, Fuller CD, van Dijk LV. Improved Xerostomia Prediction in Head and Neck Cancer Patients with Dixon Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Glandular Adiposity: Validation of Semi-Quantitative Parotid T1 Signal Intensity Metrics for Biomarker Pre-Qualification. medRxiv. e-Pub 2022.
- Mulder SL, Heukelom J, McDonald BA, Van Dijk L, Wahid KA, Sanders K, Salzillo TC, Hemmati M, Schaefer A, Fuller CD. MR-Guided Adaptive Radiotherapy for OAR Sparing in Head and Neck Cancers. Cancers (Basel) 14(8), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35454816.
- Hall WA, Paulson E, Li X, Erickson B, Schultz C, Tree A, Awan M, Low DA, McDonald BA, Salzillo T, Glide-Hurst CK, Kishan AU, Fuller CD. Magnetic resonance linear accelerator technology and adaptive radiation therapy: An overview for clinicians. CA Cancer J Clin 72(1):34-56, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34792808.
- Hall WA, Paulson E, Li X, Erickson B, Schultz C, Tree A, Awan M, Low DA, McDonald BA, Salzillo T, Glide-Hurst CK, Kishan AU, Fuller CD. Magnetic resonance linear accelerator technology and adaptive radiation therapy: An overview for clinicians. CA Cancer J Clin 72(1):34-56, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34792808.
- Pudakalakatti S, Raj P, Salzillo TC, Enriquez JS, Bourgeois D, Dutta P, Titus M, Shams S, Bhosale P, Kim M, McAllister F, Bhattacharya PK. Metabolic Imaging Using Hyperpolarization for Assessment of Premalignancy. Methods Mol Biol 2435:169-180, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34993946.
- Wahid KA, Xu J, El-Habashy D, Khamis Y, Abobakr M, McDonald B, O' Connell N, Thill D, Ahmed S, Sharafi CS, Preston K, Salzillo TC, Mohamed ASR, He R, Cho N, Christodouleas J, Fuller CD, Naser MA. Deep-learning-based generation of synthetic 6-minute MRI from 2-minute MRI for use in head and neck cancer radiotherapy. Front Oncol 12:975902, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36425548.
- Wahid KA, He R, McDonald BA, Anderson BM, Salzillo T, Mulder S, Wang J, Sharafi CS, McCoy LA, Naser MA, Ahmed S, Sanders KL, Mohamed ASR, Ding Y, Wang J, Hutcheson K, Lai SY, Fuller CD, van Dijk LV. Intensity standard-ization methods in magnetic resonance imaging of head and neck cancer. Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol 20:88-93, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Wahid KA, Ahmed S, He R, van Dijk LV, Teuwen J, McDonald BA, Salama V, Mohamed ASR, Salzillo TC, Dede C, Taku N, Lai SY, Fuller CD, Naser MA. Evaluation of deep learning-based multiparametric MRI oropharyngeal primary tumor auto-segmentation and investigation of input channel effects: Results from a prospective imaging registry. Clin Transl Oncol 31:6-14, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34765748.
- Salzillo TC, Mawoneke V, Weygand J, Shetty A, Gumin J, Zacharias NM, Gammon ST, Piwnica-Worms D, Fuller GN, Logothetis CJ, Lang FF, Bhattacharya PK. Measuring the Metabolic Evolution of Glioblastoma throughout Tumor Development, Regression, and Recurrence with Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance. Cells 10(10), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34685601.
- Salzillo TC, Taku N, Wahid KA, McDonald BA, Wang J, van Dijk LV, Rigert JM, Mohamed ASR, Wang J, Lai SY, Fuller CD. Advances in Imaging for HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer: Applications to Radiation Oncology. Semin Radiat Oncol 31(4):371-388, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34455992.
- Wang J, Salzillo T, Jiang Y, Mackeyev Y, Fuller CD, Chung C, Choi S, Hughes N, Ding Y, Yang J, Vedam S, Krishnan S. Stability of MRI contrast agents in high-energy radiation of a 1.5T MR-Linac. Radiother Oncol 161:55-64, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34089753.
- Rao Y, Gammon S, Zacharias NM, Liu T, Salzillo TC, Xi Y, Wang J, Bhattacharya P, Piwnica-Worms D. Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate-to-[1-13C]lactate conversion is rate-limited by monocarboxylate transporter-1 in the plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 117(36):22378-22389, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Dutta P, Perez MR, Lee J, Kang Y, Pratt M, Salzillo TC, Weygand J, Zacharias NM, Gammon ST, Koay EJ, Kim M, McAllister F, Sen S, Maitra A, Piwnica-Worms D, Fleming JB, Bhattacharya PK. Combining Hyperpolarized Real-Time Metabolic Imaging and NMR Spectroscopy To Identify Metabolic Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer. J Proteome Res 18(7):2826-2834, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31120258.
- Dutta P, Salzillo TC, Pudakalakatti S, Gammon ST, Kaipparettu BA, McAllister F, Wagner S, Frigo DE, Logothetis CJ, Zacharias NM, Bhattacharya PK. Assessing Therapeutic Efficacy in Real-time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Metabolic Imaging. Cells 8(4), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30978984.
- Schafer JR, Salzillo TC, Chakravarti N, Kararoudi MN, Trikha P, Foltz JA, Wang R, Li S, Lee DA. Education-dependent activation of glycolysis promotes the cytolytic potency of licensed human natural killer cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol 143(1):346-358.e6, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30096390.
- Lin C, Salzillo TC, Bader DA, Wilkenfeld SR, Awad D, Pulliam TL, Dutta P, Pudakalakatti S, Titus M, McGuire SE, Bhattacharya PK, Frigo DE. Prostate Cancer Energetics and Biosynthesis. Adv Exp Med Biol 1210:185-237, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31900911.
- Weygand J, Carter SE, Salzillo TC, Moussalli M, Dai B, Dutta P, Zuo X, Fleming JB, Shureiqi I, Bhattacharya P. Can an Organoid Recapitulate the Metabolome of its Parent Tissue? A Pilot NMR Spectroscopy Study. J Cancer Prev Curr Res 8(7):425-439, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Hu J, Salzillo TC, Sailasuta N, Lang FF, Bhattacharya P. Interrogating IDH Mutation in Brain Tumor: Magnetic Resonance and Hyperpolarization. Top Magn Reson Imaging 26(1):27-32, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28079713.
- Salzillo TC, Hu J, Nguyen L, Whiting N, Lee J, Weygand J, Dutta P, Pudakalakatti S, Millward NZ, Gammon ST, Lang FF, Heimberger AB, Bhattacharya PK. Interrogating Metabolism in Brain Cancer. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am 24(4):687-703, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27742110.
- Eiland J, Salzillo T, Hokr B, Highland J, Mayfield W, Wyatt B. Lunar-forming giant impact model utilizing modern graphics processing units. J Astrophys Astron 35:607-618, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Winton R, Salzillo TC. Semidiagonals in Quadrilaterals. J Math Sci Math Educ 7(2):11-18, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Myagmarsuren D, Amofa S, Kawthara Y, Frias EI, Salzillo TC, Karmaker N, Einstein SA, Yorke AA, Chen E, Weygand J. Geographic Disparities in Medical Physics Training and Employment: Implications for Rural Workforce Recruitment. AAPM 2025 67th Annual Meeting and Exhibition.
Abstracts
- Salzillo TC, Gumin J, Lee J, Zacharias N, Colen R, Lang FF, Bhattacharya P. Predicting Glioblastoma Recurrence with Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance. World Molecular Imaging Congress 2021, virtual 23(Suppl 2):991–1738, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34982365.
- Salzillo TC, Gumin J, Lee J, Zacharias N, Colen R, Lang FF, Bhattacharya P. Metabolic response of radiotherapy in patient-derived glioblastoma xenografts using hyperpolarized magnetic resonance. International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, ISMRM & SMRT Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- Salzillo TC, Wang J, Jiang Y, Mackeyev Y, Fuller CD, Chung C, Hughes N, Ding Y, Yang J, Vedam S, Krishnan S. Is MRI Contrast Stable in High-Energy Radiation of MR-Linac?. Elekta MR-Linac Consortium meeting (virtual).
- Salzillo TC, Jordan D, Ragan D, O'Shea M, Andrews T, Reeve D, Dillon C, Fielden S, Tressler M, Saunders J, Och J, Brunnquell C. Dependence of B0 Homogeneity on Field Strength and Phantom Size when Measured with Four Common Methods. American Association for Physicists in Medicine 63rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- Salzillo TC, Ding Y, Koay E, Fuller CD, Wang J. Development of a novel device for motion management and patient feedback on the MR-Linac. Elekta MR-Linac Consortium meeting.
- MacCallum M, Malajovich I, Serai S, Salzillo T, Dresner A, Ibbott G, Kim L. Optimizing MRI Readout of Fricke Gel Dosimeters on a 1.5T MR-Linac. American Association for Physicists in Medicine 64th Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- Salzillo T, Dresner A, Way A, Wahid K, Mulder S, Yoder A, Ahmed S, Corrigan K, Manzar G, Andring L, Pinnix C, Stafford R, Mohamed A, Wang J, Fuller C. Improvement of Online Treatment Planning with the MR-Linac Using Fat-Suppressed MRI. American Association for Physicists in Medicine 64th Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- McDonald B, Salzillo T, Mulder S, Ahmed S, Dresner A, Preston K, He R, Christodouleas J, Mohamed A, Wang J, van Houdt P, Dave A, Boss M, Fuller C. Prospective Test-Retest Evaluation of Diffusion-Weighted MRI Sequences On a 1.5T MR-Linac and a 1.5T MR Simulator for Oropharyngeal Cancers in Vivo and in Phantoms. American Association for Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
- Salzillo TC, Jayarathna SY, Peeler CR, Sadogopan R. Enriching the Training of Radiation Therapists and Physics Trainees in 4D-CT Simulations and Image-Guided SBRT Treatments Using Virtual Reality. American Association for Physicists in Medicine 65th Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- Salzillo TC, Hughes N, Vedam S, Lim TY, Wang X, Wang HC, Mohammedsaid M, Fuller CD, Wang J. Clinical Development of CT Simulations for MR-Linac Patients without the Use of a CT Table Overlay. American Association for Physicists in Medicine 65th Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
- Weygand J, Fajemisin J, Yan Y, Robins M, Salzillo TC, Toksay T, Göksel EO, Güngör GO, Einstein SA, Thomas CR. Demystifying Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Targeted Educational Initiatives for Medical Physicists in Türkiye and Preclinical Medical Students in the United States. AAPM 2025 67th Annual Meeting and Exhibition.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified November 07, 2025